Investments in instant and cross-border payment systems fuel adoption.
From the start of August to the end of September, the National Bank of Rwanda saw transactions on its eKash instant digital payment system jump from 140,000 to 1 million per month.
The value of transactions also rose sharply, from about $7 million per month to around $1.5 billion per month.
The Rwandan government considered payments a public good and invested in eKash as part of the digital public infrastructure, provided that the new platform ensured a level playing field between mobile money operators and banks, said Soraya Munyana Hakuziyaremye, the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, during a Governor Talk at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok.
eKash Takes Flight
The central bank, taking a page from leading operators of instant payment systems like India’s UPI and Brazil’s PIX, decided to eliminate existing bilateral relationships that mobile money providers had with banks and microfinance institutions and mandated that all person-to-person transactions take place on eKash. It also capped transaction fees at a hundredth of what users might have previously paid.
“For transactions that were above a million [Rwandan] francs [about $679], you could pay up to the equivalent of a $2 fee for a transaction,” Hakuziyaremye said. “Today, the transfer fee is capped at 20 francs, or less than $0.02.”
Without the mandatory routing requirement, she added, the central bank could not have reduced transaction costs.
To soften the blow the mandate had on the bottom lines of the affected banks, mobile money providers, and microfinance operators, the central bank showed them possible new revenue streams from offerings that leveraged the transaction data collected by eKash.
“They can negotiate with our national switch for the data they need at an aggregated level to offer more lending to their clients, since they have the history of their transactions, and use alternative credit scoring instead of asking for collateral for every single loan they give,” said Hakuziyaremye.
Access to credit remains a major concern for the National Bank of Rwanda, or NBR, as 92% of people have bank or mobile money accounts, but only 20% have access to credit or microcredit.
“It is still a very huge gap,” she said. “So, tracking the financial health indicators will help us improve the financial well-being of citizens.”
Cross-Border Integration
The East African country is also experiencing rapid advancements in cross-border payment integration at the regional and continental levels.
The NRB is seeing the East African Payment Master Plan, adopted by the East Africa Community, or EAC, in 2025, begin to bear fruit. The central bank launched a pilot that integrates eKash with its eastern neighbor’s Tanzania InstantPaymentSystem, or TIPS.
“We want to use this as a blueprint for a framework to integrate payment systems in the region,” said Hakuziyaremye.
At the same time, the country is part of the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which has its own regional payment system, the COMESA Clearing House.
The NRB is actively integrating its payment systems with the African Continental Free Trade Area’s Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), which seeks to deliver instant payments to beneficiaries in their local currency anywhere in Africa.
When faced with regional cross-border instant payment transactions, NRB agreed to route all of its intra-EAC payments through the regional EAC payment system and to route transactions outside the EAC through PAPSS.
“I believe that this is the approach to take,” she said. “It’s not duplicating the regional payment system, but allows cross-regional payments for regions that already had regional payment systems.”
Rob Daly covers fintech and the economy. Contact him at rdaly@gfmag.com.
HE stole the show on last night’s opening episode of Celebrity Traitors, honestly announcing to the group that he was, in fact, a traitor.
Alongside his comical moments on the BBC show, actor Richard E Grant also gave some touching references to his late wife Joan Washington.
Richard E Grant admitted he was a Traitor just 30 minutes into last night’s first episode of the second celeb seriesCredit: BBCRichard had a ‘gold dust’ relationship with wife Joan Washington, before she passed away in 2021Credit: richard.e.grant/Instagram
Delighted at being a traitor, he told viewers: “My wife said to me four days before she died, she said Richard try and find a pocketful of happiness in each day, and I feel like I’ve got a wheelbarrowful and then some.”
Richard has said he may never fall in love again, following Joan’s deathCredit: TwitterThe couple were married for 35 years, after tying the knot in 1986Credit: richard.e.grant/Instagram
Richard met dialect coach Joan at a London studio, called The Actors’ Centre, in 1982, where she had been teaching an accent class.
At the time, Joan was married to someone else, and had a son called Tom, but Richard could not take his eyes off her.
In 1994, he told The Independent he was captivated, saying: “She was wearing a boiler suit and had fairly short, cropped hair and Kicker shoes, and was chain-smoking, which I thought was insane.”
But he added: “I thought she had the most wonderful voice and huge, sort of monkey eyes. She seemed fairly frenetic. I thought that she was really cute and all that.”
Joan gave Richard a lesson in developing an Irish accent and he says they “instantly” clicked.
But initially, and amusingly, Joan found him “annoying”.
She said: “I used to take a class of about 20 people and I actually used to find him quite annoying because he’d get the giggles at quite the wrong moment and I was a strict teacher.”
Giggling aside and getting to know Richard during private lessons, Joan quickly realised she was falling for him.
She previously described her then-marriage as “extremely bad at the time” and slowly found herself smitten with the handsome actor in her class.
Recalling the way she was feeling, Joan told The Independent that she soon realised she was “madly in love with him”, adding: “I do believe that there’s one person on the globe that’s meant for you.”
Joan passed away at the age of 71 after a battle with lung cancerCredit: GettyRichard met dialect coach Joan at The Actors’ Centre in 1982, where she had been teaching an accent classCredit: Getty
The pair became a couple a year later and their relationship went from strength-to-strength, even though their jobs often meant they spent great chunks of time apart.
Richard said he never believed in marriage until he met Joan.
“My parents were divorced when I was 11 and it made such a profound impression on my life that I suppose I thought that by not getting married, you could avoid your life being carved in two. But that changed,” he told The Independent.
Although they were often apart, Richard and Joan would speak on the phone regularly and write to each other daily.
Eventually, Richard decided it was time to make an honest woman of his girlfriend with a proposal that could have been straight out of a movie.
Arriving home to London for Christmas following six weeks away in Africa, he couldn’t wait any longer and popped the question at the airport.
Richard previously recalled: “So I came back and went on bended knee with my trolley at 6.30am at Heathrow Airport – and, luckily for me, she said yes.”
Richard, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and Joan married in 1986.
Richard spoke about ‘love of his life’ Joan on the opening episode of TraitorsCredit: PATwo years ago, Richard admitted he still writes Joan letters every night to stay in touchCredit: News UK Ltd
Richard once described their marriage as “the story of my adult life”, saying they began a conversation when they met and never really stopped.
Following their marriage, the newlyweds were keen to start a family together. Sadly, their journey was a difficult one.
Joan suffered three miscarriages. They were then left heartbroken when their first child, a daughter called Tiffany, died very soon after she was born.
Richard later told YOU magazine: “Until that time I had no idea how common it is to lose babies and what it actually meant.”
Joan and Richard pictured with their daughter Olivia in 2019Credit: Getty Images – GettyProud grandad Richard taking his grandson for a walk along Petersham meadowCredit: Instagram/@richard.e.grant
Speaking to ABC, he said at the time: “My daughter, absolutely gorgeous, she’s 30 and she works in casting so I’m guaranteed a job for life, hopefully.”
Richard and Olivia run a unisex fragrance company together, called JACK.
Speaking about her life with her dad, Olivia added: “I’m just proud. It’s been the best ride to go on together.”
Unlike dozens of other Hollywood stars, Richard and Joan’s beautiful relationship lasted the distance and their love for one another was unbreakable.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2015, he described their marriage as “gold dust”.
Tragically, in 2021, Richard confirmed on Instagram that his wonderful wife had passed away at the age of 74, following a battle with lung cancer.
“Our hearts are broken with the loss of your Life last night. 35 years married and 38 together. To be truly known and seen by you, is your immeasurable gift. Do not forget us, sweet Monkee-mine.”
The actor was left devastated at the loss and said experienced further heartbreak how some friends reacted to the news, claiming a couple stopped speaking to him and even crossed the road to avoid speaking to him about his grief.
He shared: “Subsequent to her death, I have had people cross the road rather than talk. Whether they think you’re going to fall apart and you’re an emotional wreck, I don’t know. But I will never speak to them again.”
Before she passed, Richard admitted she gave him a “hilarious” list of women he must never date after she passed – although he said he does not expect to fall in love again.
Two years ago, he admitted he still writes her letters every night to stay in touch.
He told The Guardian: “I write to her every night. [I write down] everything. Stuff I know would amuse her… I have no spiritual or religious delusion that I’m ever going to get a reply.
“But after 38 years of marriage, I can hear what her response would be. It feels as close a connection as I can have. And I’ve found it very hopeful, that at the end of the day I’m having a conversation.”
In early September, Richard marked the fifth anniversary of her death with a touching tribute.
On Instagram, he wrote: “Five years ago today, my beloved wife Joan died at 7:30 in the evening. We were holding each other’s hands when she drew her last breath.”
Richard said he never believed in marriage until he met JoanCredit: GettyRichard refers to his late wife on Instagram calling the newborn ‘our grandson’Credit: Instagram/@richard.e.grant
In June 2026, Olivia and husband Florian Herbst – who wed in 2024 – welcomed their first child, a son, making Richard a grandfather for the first time.
The proud actor referred to his late wife on Instagram when he announced the news, calling the baby “our grandson.”
In an Instagram video in June 2026, an emotional Richard said: “I’m so grateful for the safe arrival of our grandson. Life truly is miraculous.”
In addition to this, in September he shared a clip of him carrying his grandkid on a walk, saying: “No better way to start my day bobbing our sleeping grandchild along Petersham meadow with Annie Lennox playing in my head.”
At Sibos 2026, Bank of America announced that it had executed its first real-time payment initiated by Bradesco.
Bank of America Corp. has completed its first pilot transaction for a new cross-border real-time payments service, partnering with São Paulo–based Banco Bradesco SA to execute the transfer.
The bank announced the milestone during the annual Sibos conference in Miami on Tuesday. The payment, initiated by Bradesco through its existing connection to Swift, arrived in Hong Kong dollars in a local beneficiary’s account via Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System.
Bradesco did not respond to Global Finance’s request for comment. The transaction’s exact processing time or cost remains undisclosed. However, Bank of America confirmed that the payment was similar to a domestic instant transfer and was completed in near real time.
Need for Speed
Traditional banks are facing stiffer competition from card networks like Visa and fintechs such as Wise, which says 74% of its transfers arrive in under 20 seconds.
There are also stablecoin providers such as Circle, which all promise faster cross-border payments.
Daniel Stanton, Payments Product Head in Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America, is betting that the firm can win on ease of adoption rather than speed alone.
“The solution is designed to work with existing banking infrastructure,” said Stanton in an email. “[The bank’s] clients can gain the benefits of faster cross-border payments without a significant technology build, new connectivity or changes to their existing accounting processes,” he added.
Expanding Global Reach
Bank of America announced the service in June. It is designed for corporate, commercial, and financial-institution clients that send large volumes of small payments, such as remittances, payouts to gig workers, and payments to e-commerce vendors.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank said the service offers real-time tracking, delivers the full principal amount and gives senders certainty that payments will arrive. It also connects to domestic instant-payment networks, including Mexico’s SPEI, the U.K.’s Faster Payments Service and India’s UPI. Clients can connect through their existing APIs or host-to-host channels.
Stanton said Bank of America clients will later be able to start these payments through CashPro, its digital banking platform, beginning in 2027. “We will share additional timing details closer to launch,” he added.
Daniel Stanton, Bank of America
Bank of America first introduced CashPro to corporate and institutional clients in 2009.
“We view this as complementary to our correspondent banking business,” Stanton continued. “It expands the payment options available to financial institutions and helps us meet growing demand for faster, more transparent cross-border payments.”
As for how many payments the firm expects to handle in its first year, it is too early to tell.
“We are seeing strong interest in solutions that can improve cross-border payments without requiring clients to make significant technology investments, establish new connectivity or change their accounting processes,” he said.
Surging Demand for Seamless Payouts
In June, Bank of America cited projections that cross-border person-to-person payment flows could grow 58% by 2032. Business-to-consumer flows could grow 131% by then.
Mark Monaco, head of Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America, touted the firm’s cross-border services earlier this month.
“Corporate treasurers don’t want to manage a patchwork of domestic schemes market by market,” Monaco told Global Finance. “They need banking partners to absorb that complexity.”
Industry Milestones in Miami
Announcements like these have made Sibos the default stage for major cross-border banking breakthroughs. For example, at last year’s event in Frankfurt, Germany, Swift unveiled a shared blockchain-based ledger. Over 30 global institutions backed the initiative—a move aimed at making 24/7 cross-border payments faster and less expensive worldwide.
Swift named Bank of America as one of the 30 firms involved.
